


collection of catradora one shots

by horde_princess



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-04
Updated: 2020-06-04
Packaged: 2021-03-04 04:47:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,095
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24517891
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/horde_princess/pseuds/horde_princess
Summary: I've posted a few short fics on tumblr over the course of the show and figured i'd put them up on ao3! they're 1-2k words each and super self indulgent jdklfjd but 3, 5, and 9 are actually kind of good i think if you wanna start there :) i may add to this work in the future if inspiration strikes.. much love xoxo
Relationships: Adora/Catra (She-Ra)
Comments: 11
Kudos: 52





	collection of catradora one shots

  
**One.  
  
Word Count: 1100  
Posted: After Season 1 (My first ever she-ra fan fic!! awe.. we were so cute and innocent back then)  
Prompt: Post-Catra redemption arc, Adora is called on a diplomatic mission, leaving Bow and Glimmer to try and figure out how to bond with Catra **

“You’re suuure you don’t want us to come with you?” Glimmer asked, not even trying to mask her desperation. 

Adora smiled apologetically as she slid her sword into its sheath and pulled a backpack over one shoulder.

“Sorry, Glimmer… I just think it’s best if I do this on my own. But you guys can keep planning missions while I’m gone, and it’s only for a couple of days! Don’t worry, I’ll be fine.”

Glimmer grimaced. It wasn’t _Adora_ she was worried about. 

Both of them glanced toward the window seat where Adora’s friend-turned-nemesis-turned-questionable-ally was sprawled, flipping through a pile of Glimmer’s old children’s books with a frustrated scowl. 

Honestly, Glimmer thought she resembled a feral stray cat. But Adora’s expression softened as she watched her and a smile was playing at her lips and Glimmer really just did _not_ understand it. 

“Okay, okay… be safe,” she sighed, defeated.

She threw her arms around Adora in a goodbye hug and could actually _feel_ Catra’s glare burning into her back. Bow hugged her too and when he pulled away Adora turned her attention back to Catra with obvious longing.

 _Ugh! What is it with these two?_ Glimmer griped to herself. 

“Well, I guess I’m leaving, now, so…” Adora said awkwardly, squinting at Catra like she was waiting for something. “Bye, guys! I’ll be back before you know it.”

Finally, Catra chimed in, not even bothering to look up from her book.

“Where have I heard that before?…”

The temperature in the room dropped about twenty degrees. Adora gathered Glimmer and Bow close to her. 

“Take care of her, okay?” she whispered to them.

Glimmer bristled– _no,_ it was definitely _not_ okay… The last thing she wanted to do was spend the next two days sucking up to a petty, selfish, miserable, piece of–

Bow put his arm around Glimmer’s shoulders and spoke up.

“We will,” he promised.

Adora smiled a little. She shot one last glance at Catra and headed out the door, shutting it closed with a quiet _click._ Then the three of them were alone. 

Glimmer and Bow stared at Catra anxiously, unsure what to do. After a minute of this she sneered, leapt off the bed, and came to stand in front of them with her arms crossed. 

“What, you guys are just gonna babysit me now?"

Glimmer shared a look with Bow.

“You don't trust me at all, do you? Even after I got you the Black Garnet! What more do you _want?”_

Right, like that could make up for all the damage she caused with it! Glimmer didn’t even want to let her stay at the castle but she seemed to have a hard time saying no to Adora and her big dumb puppy dog eyes. Ugh. Why she wanted to give Catra a second chance after she ground her heart in the dust, Glimmer had no idea, but it didn’t mean that _she_ had to pretend to like her.

“It’s… not that we don’t _trust_ you, exactly,” Bow ventured. 

Glimmer interrupted with a burst of irritation.

“But we don’t trust you not to hurt Adora!”

She'd hoped to make Catra feel guilty, or upset, or _something,_ but instead a look of genuine confusion crossed her face.

“Why would I do that? I love her,” she said. Like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Glimmer’s jaw hit the floor and the intensity of her outrage started causing her magic to glitch.

“You _what?!”_

Catra leaned forward, flashing her claws menacingly, daring Glimmer to challenge her on it. Bow--apparently unsurprised by the confession--jumped in to calm the situation.

“Oookay, guys! Hey. I know this is gonna be a long two days… but think how happy Adora would be if she came back and saw us all bonding! Don’t you want Adora to be ~happy?~”

He held his hands out in a plea and Glimmer glared daggers at him. There really was such a thing as being _too_ good. 

“Fine,” she said through gritted teeth. "What do you propose we do, then?”

Bow grinned triumphantly.

“I think we should let Catra decide!”

Glimmer narrowed her eyes at Catra, who regarded them with equal disgust.

“Oh, come on…”

“Seriously! Anything you wanna do, let’s do it. …Within reason,” he added. 

Catra considered this for a moment, and slowly, a mischievous smile crept across her face.

\- - - One day later - - -

“This is not within reason!!” Bow cried, out of breath. “This is definitely _without_ reason!”

Glimmer’s heart raced as a laser beam hit the ground at her feet and she sprinted faster, a group of Horde soldiers closing in on them while explosions erupted in the distance.

“Just keep running!” Catra shouted.

Glimmer hopped into the driver’s seat of the mooncraft and shot a wave of magic through her hand into the ignition pad. When the vehicle powered up she slammed the accelerator, lifted them off the ground, and jetted away from the chaos while navigating a barrage of laser blasts. Within a couple of seconds, the ugly noises of the Fright Zone faded away and they were soaring up in the clouds. Wind rushed through Glimmer’s hair as the thrill of the mission finally caught up with her.

“Woohooooo! We actually did it, we bombed the Horde! That was so awesome!”

“Nice getaway, Sparkles,” Catra yelled over the rush of air, looking crazed and windswept and kind of _joyous._ She leaned over the side and gazed down at the armory burning below them. 

Bow collapsed in a heap on a chair, hand pressed to his chest. 

“Remind me to never go along with _anything_ you guys say _ever_ again.”

Catra grinned at Glimmer playfully and it stirred something excited in her. Maybe she _could_ give Catra a chance... You know. For Adora’s sake.

The next day, Adora returned and they told her everything.

“What?! You guys could’ve gotten hurt!” she reprimanded, hand on the hilt of her sword. “I said we should hold _off_ on any missions until I came home–”

“We’re not helpless,” Catra shot back. “And you’re not the boss of us!”

For once, Glimmer felt compelled to come to her defense.

“Adora, _relax._ We’re all fine, the Horde’s down a hundred war bots, and Catra and I finally found something to bond over! Isn’t this what you wanted?” 

Catra glanced over at Glimmer in surprise. Adora’s expression turned comically incredulous. She groaned, giving up on the argument, and stomped out of the room mumbling something about _idiots_ and _worst crushes ever_ and _should’ve never introduced them._

Bow huffed, fretful. “Well? Are you proud of yourselves?”

Catra gave Glimmer an unabashed smirk that said _yes, extremely._

She couldn’t help but smile back.  
  


  
**Two.  
  
Word Count: 900  
Posted: After Season 1  
Prompt: Kisses meant to distract the other person from whatever they were intently doing  
**

She wasn’t in the gym. She wasn’t in the lab. She wasn’t on the dormitory roof, where she often went to escape. There was no sign of her at all.

Adora huffed, wondering where the hell Catra could have disappeared to in the middle of the night… And then it hit her.

They had a marksmanship test this week.

Sneaking past security bots, she eventually made her way to the Fright Zone’s firing range, and relief washed over her when she heard the faint sound of laser shots coming from behind the door. She was surprised to find the keypad glowing green instead of red at this time of night. She typed in the code and the door slid open to reveal a cavernous, dimly lit space, the gun shots echoing so loud now that Adora had to cover her ears.

Catra stood in one of the shooting stalls, her back to her as she fired shot after shot into several targets positioned down the lane. Crackling lasers arched from her pistol like lightning and her body seemed to flicker phantasmically among green neon lights and shadows.

“Catra?” she yelled.

The chaos in the room quieted as Catra lowered the gun. For a while it seemed like she wasn’t going to acknowledge her presence, then, finally, she turned to look at Adora with an impassive expression. She nodded in greeting and resumed her firing stance, as if there was nothing unusual about the situation.

“…How’d you even get in here?” Adora asked, walking up behind her.

Catra fired off another blast. It left a smoking hole in the bullseye.

“Hacked the server.”

Adora groaned, exasperated. _“And_ you’re out past curfew…”

“So are you,” she pointed out.

“Yeah, so we’re both gonna get in trouble! Come on, we should go… Is getting the top score really worth this?”

Another laser erupted from the gun, answering that question. 

She rolled her eyes, wishing she could understand where this sudden competitive streak was coming from. Wishing Catra would _talk_ to her, for once. This was next level–risking punishment just for some extra practice time? Head count was in a half hour and she had to get her back to the dorms before they got caught. Maybe if she couldn’t persuade her with _words,_ then…

A sinful smirk crossed Adora’s face.

She strolled into the stall with her, but Catra paid her no attention, focused on lining up another shot. She let her eyes rake deliberately over Catra’s toned arms, the light sheen of sweat across her skin, the movement of muscle beneath her clothing. She wasn’t sure how or when their friendship had turned into _this,_ whatever it was, but it was intoxicating. And she knew Catra was just as affected-even if she pretended not to be.

So right as Catra pulled the trigger, Adora innocently grazed her nails up her thigh. The laser went ricocheting off the ceiling.

Catra rounded on her abruptly, yanking off her headphones in frustration.

“What are you doing?!–”

Adora was ready for her reaction. She pushed forward and placed both hands on the counter behind them to trap Catra against her body, their lips inches apart. 

“Hey, Catra...” She murmured, seductive. “Come back to bed.” She hoped the proposition of sharing a bunk in a crowded dorm room sounded sexier out loud than it did in her head.

Catra scowled, but Adora noticed with smug satisfaction that her pupils were blown.

“No. Stop asking.”

She knocked Adora’s arms away and turned back around, apparently determined to ignore her, but Adora wasn’t about to give up that easily. So when Catra raised the pistol again, she took the opportunity to encircle her waist from behind. This time, she didn’t push her away.

“…Adora,” Catra warned.

She held Catra tighter, feeling how taut her body was with all the unspoken tension she’d been carrying lately. Her chest ached with a longing to soothe it. She nosed her messy ponytail aside and pressed a sensual kiss to the back of her neck, tongue lingering against her skin. 

Catra cursed under her breath.

“You really want me to stop?” she teased. Not that she expected a response–Catra never admitted to wanting anything.

Adora moved around her side, smoothing a hand down the length of her arm while pressing open-mouthed kisses to her neck, her jaw. As she did, she gently coaxed the weapon from her grasp.

The moment she set it down Catra pulled her into a furious kiss.There was something bitter behind it, but any concern about that fled from her mind when Catra’s tongue twisted into her mouth, driving Adora crazy with desire. She lifted her up onto the counter and Adora wrapped her legs around her and their lips crashed together again and _god,_ she just needed her impossibly _closer--_

But she’d come here for a reason. She tried to remember what that was as Catra broke the kiss and moved her attention to her neck.

“We have to… get back,” Adora insisted, threading an encouraging hand into her hair. “For the… for the count. Oh my _god…”_

Catra’s teeth scraped painfully as if in protest, and cold hands were slipping beneath her shirt, and Adora’s self control was fading fast. Maybe she hadn’t thought this plan through very well.

 _Screw it,_ she thought, and wrenched Catra’s mouth back to hers.  
  


  
**Three.  
  
Word Count: 2000  
Posted: After Season 1  
Prompt: Someone didn't realize that Spinnerella and Netossa are dating. How do they find out and how does everyone react? (omg this is so funny because now we know they were actually married the whole time.. i'm crying)  
**

Marriage didn’t exist inside the Horde.

Sure, there were family units, utilized for social efficiency and reproduction purposes. But once children got to a certain age, they were assigned roles in the army, and the unit was forced to disband. That’s how things worked.

Adora realized now of course that had been just another one of Hordak’s oppressive tactics–because in the rest of Etheria, there were happy couples everywhere. She’d heard all the stories of grand romances between kings and queens, princesses and peasant boys. It all sounded beautiful… but She-Ra had more important things to worry about. Honestly, she wasn’t even sure that romance was something that _interested_ her. 

Until the moment she saw Netossa kneel down on one knee in front of Spinnerella and the entire post-war celebration ball… and Adora felt so dizzy she almost blacked out. 

“Spin, you’re the wind beneath my wings,” Netossa said as their audience looked on, enraptured. “After all we’ve been through, I can’t imagine life without you. What do you say, princess? Will you marry me?” 

The crowd waited with bated breath until, at last, Spinnerella nodded, wiping tears away and pulling Netossa to her feet. They kissed each other sweetly as everyone in the ice castle erupted in cheers.

“Glimmer?” Adora squeaked. “What’s happening?”

Glimmer clutched Adora’s hand, a huge smile taking up half her face. “Netossa finally propoooosed! I can’t believe it!”

“They were always meant to be,” Bow sighed dreamily. 

She couldn’t tear her gaze away, suddenly seeing their affection for each other in a whole new light…

“But—They were—How did—?”

They were… _together?_ This whole time? Two _girls_ getting _married…_ Was that even possible?!

“Let’s go say congratulations!” Glimmer cried, pulling Adora after her.

“Uh, okay!…”

They approached the newly engaged couple, waiting their turn to say hello. A million questions swirled in Adora’s head, mostly about herself.

“Oh, it’s Glimmer!” Spinnerella laughed. “Bow, Adora! it’s so nice to see you all again.”

Glimmer pulled her down into a hug. “Congrats, you two!! We’re so happy for you!” 

Adora smiled awkwardly, nodding along with the conversation.

“It’s about time you locked it down!” Bow exclaimed, giving Netossa a high five. “Spinnerella’s quite the _catch,_ huh?”

Netossa rolled her eyes.

“You know! Because, nets _catch_ things?” 

“We get it, Bow,” Glimmer groaned. “Ooh! Let’s see the ring!”

——

After a little while, the party began to wind down. Adora decided to wait for an opening and speak to them alone, and it took all the courage she had. Fighting off giant robots? Ha. That was nothing. But _this?_

The three of them were seated at a table, Netossa and Spinnerella patiently enduring Adora’s interrogation.

“So you, um…” Adora swallowed, blushing. “Hold each other, and stuff? Like other couples?” 

Netossa raised an amused eyebrow. She turned to look at Spinnerella with such love and intimacy in her eyes that Adora had to look away.

“Yeah… And stuff.”

“Oh, hush,” Spinnerella chided, turning back to Adora. “I’m still surprised you didn’t know!”

“Yeah, I had no idea… I guess I just thought you were close friends, like me and–”

Time slowed to a stop.

_Like me and Catra…_

There was a quiet moment where Spinnerella shared a smile with her fiancé, then eyed Adora curiously.

“You know, for such a charming hero, you don’t seem to have many suitors hanging around…” She glanced up briefly. “Well. Maybe one or two.”

“Suitors?” she questioned, following her line of sight.

And that’s when Adora saw her. She was leaning against a pillar in the back of the ballroom, talking with Scorpia. Unlike the Princess Ball, she was dressed in a tasteful black suit and tie; but she wore it in such a way that made it clear she wasn’t here to impress anyone. Her friend had changed so much the past couple of years, from a vengeful kid to a liberator… and the new ruler of the Horde. She stood a little taller, carried herself with the attractive grace of a Lord. It left a fuzzy feeling in Adora’s stomach. They really thought that Catra wanted to… _court_ her?

Catra looked up, then, and their eyes met across the room. Adora whipped her head back around. Geez, was it hot in here or something? What was this, an ice castle or a furnace?!

“You okay there?” Netossa smirked. “You’re red as a tomato.”

“Wh–Am I?”

Adora touched her cheek, attempting to hide it. Then out of nowhere a group of people approached the table to offer congratulations, interrupting their conversation.

“Oh, Adora, please stay!” Spinnerella begged as Adora stumbled up out of her chair. 

“No, no, sorry, I don’t mean to take all of your time–uh, enjoy the party!”

She headed quickly towards the balcony, hoping to catch some fresh air and get her head straight, when a voice behind her made her freeze.

“Hey, Adora.”

…Oh no.

She was _so_ screwed. 

Adora took a deep breath and turned around to face her. “Catra! Hey! What’s up?”

“This party sucks,” she lamented, oblivious to her friend’s crisis. 

Adora held back a laugh. “Maybe that’s because you’re hiding in a corner.”

“Easy for you to say! Everyone here _likes_ you.”

Adora sensed that there was more agitation behind her smile than she let on, and she wondered if it was really the people here making her feel unwelcome, or just the guilt she still carried with her. Maybe that’s why she hadn’t seen much of her tonight. 

“I’m pretty sure this whole party is for you,” Adora argued back. ”You’re the one who overthrew Hordak’s regime–everyone here owes you their life! Including me.” She shook her head fondly. “The past is the past. You’re a different person, now… _Lord_ Catra.”

Catra’s whole demeanor changed at the use of her new title. She cleared her throat and stuck her hands in her pockets, and… whoa… Was Catra _blushing?_

That was a first.

“Yeah, well. You’ve changed a lot, too,” she deflected. Her voice was rougher than before. 

“…In a good way?”

Catra’s gaze drifted over Adora, eyes smoldering. It sent off a panic alarm in her head. 

“In a _really_ good way.” 

The lights dimmed around them while the band on stage transitioned into a slow ballad. Catra’s bravado evaporated and she smiled shyly, offering a hand out to her.

“For old time’s sake?” 

Adora’s heart skipped a beat.

“S-sure, why not…”

She placed a trembling hand in Catra’s sure one. Catra drew their bodies close and her pulse started to race like she was in the middle of a raging battle, yet the only threat was the pretty girl in front of her. She found her other hand moving naturally to Catra’s shoulder as her partner rested hers on her waist.

“This okay?”

“Yeah, um. Totally.”

Adora let Catra take the lead. They swayed together for a while in silence, far from the activity of the ball. A part of her wanted to ask if Catra had known about Spinnerella and Netossa, but she knew where that conversation would take them, and she just couldn’t gather the nerve.

“So… What’s next for the great She-Ra?” Catra joked after a moment. She laced her fingers with Adora’s, colorful eyes shining in the darkness.

“Oh, uh–”

 _Words,_ Adora. 

“Well, the Alliance is preparing reparations for some of the kingdoms most affected by the war. So I’ll be traveling a lot, I guess.”

Catra hummed, a distant look on her face.

“Remember how we used to sneak up to the roof at night, just to see the skyline? Wondering what was out there?” 

The thought made Adora smile sadly. “Honestly… I try not to.”

Catra slid a hand around her back and rubbed soothingly, and Adora leaned into her warmth, heart rate slowing by the second.

“What about you? Any big plans now that you’ve got a whole city to rule?”

“Actually…” Catra chuckled. “I think I might be coming with you.”

Adora pulled back to look at her.

“You… are?”

“I mean, there are some loose ends to tie up. But I hope so. I have a lot to make up for,” she murmured, voice tinged with regret.

A hundred emotions flashed through Adora, but the overwhelming one was happiness.

“So we’ll be seeing a lot of each other, then,” she beamed.

Catra gave her a strange smile, like she was confused and amazed at the same time. Then her eyes fell to her lips, and she tilted her face closer, and Adora’s brain kind of short-circuited.

“That _was_ part of the plan…”

Abruptly, the music changed into an upbeat dance song, causing them both to jerk back a little. 

_…Why, God?_ Adora begged internally. 

Catra just laughed once, resigned. She stepped backwards and took an elegant bow like a gentleman would.

“Thanks for the dance, princess.”

Holding Adora’s gaze, she lifted her hand to brush a tender kiss across her knuckles, leaving her a speechless, flustered mess. And without another word, Catra turned to go. 

Adora felt paralyzed as she realized what the epithet reminded her of–Netossa’s proposal. Something stirred deep inside her, coming to the surface after years and years of being trapped in darkness. It made her terrified and brazen all at once. Was she really just going to stand there and watch dumbly as the girl she loved–had _always_ loved–walked away from her?

“Catra?”

“Huh?–“

She’d barely turned back around when Adora grabbed her by the jacket and pulled Catra’s lips to hers in a desperate, earth-shattering kiss. 

She had absolutely no idea what she was doing, but Catra responded passionately, pulling her flush against her and surrendering to Adora’s fire while also somehow laying claim to every part of her. Heat scorched through her veins and she thought she might actually be dying but the pounding in her chest insisted otherwise. Catra melted into her, sighing Adora’s name reverently against her lips, and Adora parted them for her, longing to take in as much of her as she could–longing to make up for all the years the world had forced them apart. Her tongue grazed Catra’s and it was all she could do not to fall apart in her arms. 

She felt Catra smile, then, and pull back gently, out of breath. She touched their foreheads together and it took Adora a minute to finally open her eyes.

“Hey,” Catra breathed.

Adora bit her lip. “Hey.”

“We’re gonna get kicked out.”

Oh. She had kind of forgotten where they were.

“They can’t kick us out… we’re the heroes,” Adora pouted.

Catra broke out in a grin—a beautiful, euphoric, carefree smile that Adora had never seen on her before. It filled her heart with wonder.

“Don’t be mad, but I _might_ know somewhere quiet we could go… I have this whole place mapped from when I, uh. Attacked it.”

Adora rolled her eyes. “Oh, great. That doesn’t ruin the mood or anything.”

Catra smirked, not looking quite as ashamed as Adora would’ve liked. She leaned in and brushed her lips up along her jaw while trailing a hand from the back of her neck to her chest. Adora thought she might combust when she felt Catra’s hot breath on her ear.

“Let me get you back into it…”

(Okay. So. Maybe she could give this whole “romance” thing a try.)

\--

Spinnerella smiled, watching the two girls run off together hand in hand.

“Ahh, young love…”

“You meddler,” Netossa accused.

“I only helped them along!”

She laughed and drew Spinnerella close. “Wish I had a gay guide when I was younger. I probably would’ve proposed sooner.”

“See? That’s why we have to start giving back, now.”

Netossa kissed her lovingly, and with the threat of war finally behind them after all these years, they had never been more excited for what the future held.  
  


  
**Four.  
  
Word Count: 900  
Posted: After Season 1  
Prompt: Forbidden kiss  
**

Adora grasped Catra’s hand.

“We’ll get out of here together one day… Somewhere she can’t hurt you anymore. I promise.”

The sunset painted the Fright Zone’s industrial landscape with a misty, greenish-orange light, the colors reflected in Catra’s far-off stare. The wind was cold at this altitude but Adora felt warm–Catra’s fire flowed from her hand into her bones.

When Catra looked at her again, it was with naked longing, and a different kind of fear than before.

Catra swallowed hard and reached up with her other hand to brush a stray piece of hair behind Adora’s ear. Her fingers lingered on her skin, shaking. She cupped her face and Adora instinctively leaned into the touch. It was rare for Catra to be vulnerable with her like this. Adora lived for these stolen moments, when they were alone together–nothing to fear, or fight, or hate, or suffer. It almost made her wonder if there was something more to life than what she knew. Looking into Catra’s eyes made her want to believe it.

“Can I kiss you?” Catra whispered.

The question was so simple. So small. But it echoed in Adora’s heart and amplified until it was so heavy she felt like her chest was caving in. Catra had a way of making complicated things sound easy–and in another world, in another life, maybe it would have been.

“Catra,” she said, voice breaking. “Don’t you remember? When we were little?”

She had felt terribly sick one night. Catra gave up her dinner ration for her, and Adora was so grateful she had thoughtlessly pecked her on the cheek. But Shadow Weaver requested Catra’s presence later that evening, and afterwards, she listened to Catra cry herself to sleep, helpless to comfort her because _it was her fault, it was her fault, it was her fault._

In the present, Catra's face paled and her eyes flashed with anger–

No, not anger.

Defiance.

Catra pulled her other hand from Adora’s hold and lifted it to cradle her face. Then she stepped closer, brushing the tip of her nose against Adora’s like a feather. Adora could feel her breath on her lips and the heat of her body and the intimacy of it was intoxicating, inexorable, some kind of coalescence. She didn’t know what was happening. Maybe she was going crazy.

“You think I’m afraid of getting tortured for this?” she breathed, dragging her thumb across Adora’s lip. “Every second you’re not kissing me is like an eternity in hell.”

Adora turned her face away before she did something she knew she’d regret.

“Catra…”

It was dangerous to say things like that. Treasonous. Romantic affection between soldiers was strictly forbidden–a sure fire way to get beaten, exiled, or worse. Catra knew that better than anyone. Yet somehow her stubborn reaction was unsurprising.

“I can't, I--I won’t be the reason you get hurt.”

“I think I’m damned either way,” Catra smiled softly.

Adora shook her head in frustration. Her heart was ripping itself apart with the weight of her desire and her selfishness. She placed a hand on Catra’s chest with the intent of pushing her away, but it ended up just resting there over her heart.

“You can’t really think this is worth getting punished. Isn’t this enough? Just to be close? Just to know that I…” Adora fumbled for words. “That I feel the same way?”

Catra’s expression softened. She held Adora’s waist and leaned her forehead against hers.

“You’re worth everything.”

God, what an idiot. Adora felt her willpower slipping.

“No, I’m not.”

Catra pressed in closer, apparently undeterred.

“Catra, I’m serious.”

“You are?”

Adora’s back hit the railing and her heart started to race.

_“Yes.”_

“Because you can say stop anytime,” she replied with fake innocence.

Adora flushed, feeling exposed. She _could_ tell her to stop–she could walk away now with whatever scraps of courage she still had. But Catra was so damn relentless, confident, always sure of what she wanted. Adora wasn’t sure of anything. 

The responding silence was deafening. Catra thread a hand through her hair and leaned into her and suddenly their lips were so close and Adora had a burning hatred for the space that still separated them. Everything about her was consuming, magnetic, pulling Adora in despite herself. She could feel Catra’s heart pounding recklessly against her own.

“You drive me crazy…”

Adora opened her mouth to protest but she couldn’t remember how.

Maybe… If Catra wasn’t afraid, then she could help Adora be brave, too. As long as they faced it together. She didn’t know what would happen. They were probably doomed from the start. But she did know that Shadow Weaver would have to kill Adora before she ever let her hurt Catra for this–or anything else–ever again.

“Goddammit,” she breathed, surging forward to meet Catra’s lips.  
  


  
**Five.  
  
Word Count: 2300  
Posted: After Season 2  
Prompt: Needing to kiss to hide from bad guys  
**

Adora twisted against her handcuffs uselessly, wrists chafed and bloody, before finally giving up and dropping her hands into her lap. Her head was buzzing with fatigue and hunger, her muscles ached from spending the night in a Horde prison cell that was about as comfortable as a bed of nails. Still, it offered a semblance of safety, and for that she was grateful–since every second spent trapped here was time that she might have spent being, well, dead.

The Rebellion defense had been a total disaster. No, that was a lie–Adora was the only one to blame. She let Catra manipulate her _again,_ choosing to save her friend’s life even knowing it would result in defeat. Why Hordak took her captive instead of killing her on the spot was a terrifying mystery that Adora preferred not to unravel right now. She couldn’t let fear paralyze her. She had to think of a way to get out of here. She had to get back to Glimmer and Bow, she had to help her _friends–_

A sudden movement in the darkness outside her cell startled her. She sat up straight against the wall, blowing loose hair out of her face. Whatever they did to her, she wouldn’t let them see her spirit broken.

But the shadowy figure was… familiar. Adora’s heart rate picked up and she watched as the door slid open to reveal the only person who actually _did_ have the power to break her. 

They stared at each other for a moment, Catra’s expression unreadable. Adora was expecting insults from her, or mockery, but… none came. Truthfully, she looked like she hadn’t slept in days. Catra frowned, marched over, and yanked Adora up to her feet by the handcuffs, causing her to hiss in pain. 

“Let’s go.”

When Adora resisted, Catra gripped her arm painfully and dragged her out of the cell anyway. Her animosity never ceased to feel like some kind of fucked up hallucination.

“Catra, don’t do this!”

“Would you shut up?” she snapped. “If you get us caught, we’re both _dead.”_

She released her and pulled out a tablet, glancing nervously around the empty atrium.

“Wait… what do you mean ‘if we get caught?’”

Catra grit her teeth. She touched the screen and there was a quiet click as a door near them unlocked.

“I’m trying to get you _out_ of here, dumbass.”

Adora felt like the world just slipped off its axis. She must have been more exhausted than she’d realized because there was no way she’d heard that right. But hope clawed at her insides anyway, demanding and vengeful, struggling to escape the little coffin she had shoved it into long ago and buried six feet underground.

“You’re… helping me escape?”

Catra shot her a glare then started walking again, pulling Adora along with her. Hostility emanated off her in waves. They passed through the doorway and started down a deserted corridor, broken lights flickering eerily. 

“But _why?”_

She rounded on Adora, stoic anger turning fierce. “Do you know what Hordak wants to do to you?!” she whispered. “He’s not just going to kill you, Adora! He wants to _torture_ you, corrupt your powers–prod you like a lab rat til there’s nothing left.”

Adora had guessed as much, but that wasn’t really what she meant.

“I don’t get it, isn’t that what you wanted all along? I mean… you’ve been trying to get rid me ever since I…”

 _Left. Abandoned you. Messed up everything._ She didn’t know how to say it aloud. 

Catra was quiet for a moment, then she sneered.

“No one gets to take you down but _me._ Got it? Especially not fucking… Hordak. And if I can ruin one of his plans while I’m at it, all the better.”

There it was again, fluttering madly in the deepest recesses of Adora’s chest. Hope.

“But why not just take me out now?” she pressed, needing Catra to tell her the truth, for once. “I don’t have my sword, I’m powerless.”

“Yeah, well, exactly!” Catra sputtered. “You’re all chained up and pathetic right now. It wouldn’t be a good fight.”

“…Catra–”

“We just have to get to the– _Shit._ Someone’s coming.”

Searching frantically for an escape, Catra pulled her into a niche in the hallway. 

The space was tight and dark, and Adora could feel Catra’s shallow breaths, and every accidental touch of their bodies sent a wave of anxiety screeching down her spine like nails on a chalkboard. All at once she realized exactly what Catra was risking by trying to save her. If she got caught… it would be the end of her.

The guards’ voices drifted over to them, getting closer. There must have been three of them, maybe more.

“…weird signal coming from the prison block.”

“No, it’s three in the damn morning. It must be a glitch.”

Catra took a steadying breath. “There’s no way they won’t see us here. How many can you take?”

“Oh, sure. I’ll just take down some armed gunmen with my _hands cuffed.”_

Catra groaned quietly, clenching her fists, and Adora could see the wheels in her head turning. Then her body went slack and her eyes filled with what could only be described as… _horror._

Unmitigated horror. 

Adora blinked at her.

“Catra?–”

“We have to kiss,” she breathed.

Adora’s brain slowly faltered to a stop like an overworked motor.

“…Um. What.”

 _“Think about it!_ Why else would two teenagers be hiding in a dark corner in the middle of the night? If we can play it right, maybe they’ll leave us alone.”

The voices were getting louder with each passing second and Adora was experiencing a strong wave of nausea. 

“You can’t be serious,” she rasped.

“Well I don’t hear you coming up with any bright ideas!”

The shuffle of boots echoing down the hall suddenly stopped.

“Hey, did you hear something?” A woman’s voice said, her flashlight beam sweeping near them.

Catra held her breath and Adora did the same, feeling like the blood in her veins had been replaced with electric current.

“Check the door over there.”

Catra was so close, and so warm, and so _Catra;_ and if she closed her eyes she could imagine they were just kids again, sneaking around the Fright Zone, getting into trouble together. She could forget everything that had happened the past few months, all the pain they had caused each other. She could forget this was a life or death situation. She could forget that Catra hated her fucking guts.

…Though, apparently, not quite as much as she once did.

“Nothing here, boss,” one of the guards said.

“Keep moving, I know I heard something.”

It was dark, but not dark enough to hide them once the flashlight illuminated the space. As soon as the guards walked past them they’d be spotted. They’d be asked to identify themselves, if they didn’t already know their faces… _fuck._

“…It has to look convincing,” Adora choked out.

Catra met her eyes, expression carefully neutral. 

“Take off your badge.”

Catra did as instructed. Adora moved behind her so her back was to the wall, hiding her tied hands from view. The guards were closing in fast. Catra’s face suddenly turned pale.

“You know what? This was a stupid idea.”

“Huh?”

“There’s no way they’ll just let us go… what if–I could take them myself, right? I fight giant killing machines all the time–”

“Catra, they have guns–”

“Or I could tell them who I am, say I was just taking you to the–”

_“Catra!”_

The guards were feet away and the light was sweeping towards them and before she could think too much about it Adora surged forward and crushed her lips to Catra’s.

The earth seemed to drop out from under her.

God, it was so… _wrong._ It was fake and bitter and poisoned and fuck, it shouldn’t have happened like this, _it shouldn’t have happened like this._

It took a second for Catra to respond, but then Adora felt her moving deliberately to make it look natural. She wrapped an arm around her waist, roughly pressing Adora between the wall and her body. The whole thing lasted for all of two seconds before she sensed a light shining on them.

“Oh–”

“What–”

“Shit–”

Adora’s head spun as Catra pulled her lips away and turned to address the guards, keeping her hands on Adora and her body pressed close. She was functioning at about a half a percent mental capacity and couldn’t begin to imagine how Catra was handling this so easily.

(Maybe it hurt her ego. So what?)

“The fuck?” Catra griped loudly. “Can we get some privacy?”

“Sorry, ladies, there’s been a security breach and–we didn’t mean to, uh–we’re supposed to check your badges–”

“We’re a little busy, here,” she interrupted, flipping them off as she turned back to Adora with a dangerous smirk. 

Her previous distress was all but gone now, masked over with an exaggerated confidence. She gave Adora a meaningful look, then leaned in and caught her lips in a sensual, open-mouthed kiss. And now that her brain had caught up with her body… Adora was on _fire._

The guards, the prison, the Horde, the Rebellion–it all disappeared in a puff of smoke as Catra’s tongue twisted with hers, two opposite forces coalescing, and nothing in the world mattered but this, nothing _existed_ apart from this. If Catra were to stop kissing her, she thought the fabric of her universe might rip apart. Somewhere in the back of her mind she registered the guards walking away, but Catra wasn’t stopping the kiss, and every touch, every swirl of her tongue was bringing Adora closer to some kind of breaking point. Catra slipped a thigh between hers and a soft moan escaped her, she couldn’t control her body’s response anymore, and it definitely wasn’t part of any act.

Catra must have realized that, too, because she immediately pulled back to look at her, wearing the most smug expression Adora had ever seen on someone. Heat rose in her cheeks as reality slowly pulsed back into focus. 

The guards were gone. The universe was, somehow, still intact.

“If you wanted to get me alone, all you had to do was ask, princess.”

 _Asshole._ Adora wanted to smack the mocking grin off her face. Too bad her hands were tied.

“What–I don’t– _Screw you!_ That was way past ‘convincing!’”

Catra cocked an expectant eyebrow and Adora relented with a sigh.

“Sorry. I… I know you’re just trying to help me.”

For some reason that made Catra’s smile fall. She leaned in again, lips close, her scent washing over Adora, smokey and intoxicating.

“Is that what I’m doing?”

They locked eyes for a long, tense moment. The taste of her lingered on Adora’s tongue and her heart was pounding so hard she was afraid Catra might hear it. There were no guards, no threats… it was just her and Catra this time. Catra, the person who had vowed to destroy Adora and everything she cared about. Catra, who was supposed to be her enemy. Catra… who was currently saving her life. 

“We should…” Adora licked her lips. “We should go.”

“Yeah,” Catra agreed.

But the second Catra’s eyes fell to her lips Adora was pushing forward and kissing her for the third time that night, giving into something furious and insane and probably inevitable. Catra sighed into her mouth as her hands raked down Adora’s body and she struggled against the handcuffs, not even feeling the pain of it, just desperate to touch her, and–fuck–this wasn’t _fair–_

Reading her mind, Catra raised Adora’s arms above her head and pinned them there with one hand, the other moving down to lift her leg around her hip. Adora swallowed back a whine as Catra pressed flush against her body–her kiss urgent now, consuming–and Adora arched into her, giving up any pretense of dignity or self-control. She was unraveling more with every new touch and she decided she didn’t care how fucked up this was anymore… she didn’t care if Catra was manipulating her, whether she hated her or not–what did it even matter? There was such a mess of emotion between them, it was impossible to make sense of, and if this was how it manifested in Catra, she _really_ didn’t mind. 

Then, with a harsh movement–seemingly out of nowhere–Catra broke the kiss.

It was like having the wind knocked out of her. Adora slowly came to her senses and felt how Catra was struggling to control her breathing, fingers trembling against Adora’s jaw. The silence stretched between them. When she finally spoke, her voice was dark and… devastated.

“…What are you doing to me?”

Adora didn’t have an answer.

Catra’s grip on her loosened, she stepped away, and it left Adora feeling ice cold in the absence of her touch.

“Catra, I…”

What could she say? That she was sorry? She wasn’t. She was selfish, and stupid, and cowardly, but absolutely nothing in her was _sorry._

Not for this, anyway.

“This doesn’t change anything,” Catra stated rigidly.

Adora wasn’t sure which one of them she was trying to convince. Still, the weight of the words crushed her. She had nothing left, her cards were all on the table. If Catra were to ever use this against her… she almost laughed at the thought.

Catra turned away from her and walked out into the hallway, but Adora was afraid to move, afraid to shatter the illusion.

“So, what? That’s it?”

A beat of silence.

“Yep.”

Catra looked back at her and jerked her head towards the exit, then walked away without waiting for Adora to follow.  
  
  


**Six.  
  
Word Count: 430  
Posted: After Season 4  
Prompt: a little thing for valentine's day that i never finished haha  
**

“Everything’s so… _pink,”_ Catra said, nose wrinkled with disgust. “I mean, more than usual.”

Adora chuckled in agreement. From the hidden sanctuary of her balcony, the two of them gazed down at the party below, fairy lights and paper hearts and a string quartet playing soft love songs as couples danced and mingled. A vast expanse of stars glittered above them. Adora didn’t think she’d ever get used to that.

“What’s the point of this again?”

“No idea,” Adora answered. “Glimmer _insisted_ on it–she said it’s a special day for people to show how much they love each other.”

Increasingly uncomfortable with the space between them, Adora shifted closer until their shoulders were touching, and held back a sigh of relief. After everything they’d been through, and all the hours spent lost in her absence, she kind of just wanted to be touching Catra all the time, now. To make sure she was really there, that she wasn’t dreaming it.

Catra scoffed, unaware of Adora’s turbulent thoughts. 

“That’s dumb. If someone doesn’t care about you 364 days of the year, what difference would one special day make?”

“I don’t know. I think it’s kind of nice,” Adora smiled.

Catra gave her a disparaging look then laughed as Adora shoved her off balance. And gods, she was _happy._ Something about tonight–the music, the celebration, the jerk standing next to her–made her feel like anything was possible.

“You are _such_ a princess,” Catra groaned.

She reached for something inside the jacket of her tux and held it out to Adora. It was a single red rose.

“But, you know. Maybe I’m getting used to it.”

Adora glanced from the flower to the blush coloring Catra’s cheeks and wondered why it was suddenly so hard to breathe. She took the stem carefully, her fingers brushing Catra’s, lingering. The touch evoked a swell of sparkling emotion inside her chest and she thought she probably knew what it was--she tried to stop it, prevent the thought from fully forming, but she couldn’t, and it just kept repeating itself without permission over and over in a burst of radiant colors: _I’m in love with her, I’m in love with her, oh man I am_ so _in love with her._

Silhouetted by the stars, they stood paralyzed in each other’s gaze until the rose fell to the ground and Adora took Catra’s face in her hands and kissed her with the ache of a long surrendered love, of a thousand missed chances she vowed to spend her whole life chasing after.  
  


  
**Seven.  
  
Word Count: 1200  
Posted: After Season 4  
Prompt: none i was just thinking about catra under a love spell and this happened lol  
**

“Ugh, what the hell… where am I?”

Slowly, awareness dawned on Catra’s face. She looked around at each of her interrogators, finally focusing on the girl in front of her, who finished the knot with a rougher-than-necessary twist and stepped back, crossing her arms.

“You’re in the Bright Moon prison,” Adora announced. “And right now, your army’s falling apart without its captain, so you’re going to tell us what we… want… to know…” 

Adora trailed off when she realized Catra was gazing at her with dilated eyes and a dopey grin on her face.

“A prison? Looks like heaven to me.”

Silence flooded the room.

“Uh…” 

She shifted uneasily and shared a confused look with Glimmer. Adora knew Catra, she knew what she was like when she was being sarcastic, and _this_ wasn’t it. Something was… off. 

“Wait, I get it, I get it,” Catra laughed, head falling back like she was drunk. “I’m still asleep, right?”

“What? No–”

“Come on, tied up by the hottest girl on Etheria?” Adora’s entire reality immediately crashed to a halt. “This _has_ to be a dream.”

Adora whirled toward Angella, face burning, trying to ignore her friends’ snickers.

_“What’s wrong with her?!”_

The queen, dignified as ever, peered at their prisoner with mild concern. 

“I believe I've seen this once before. It appears she’s been dosed with some kind of love spell. A sect of magic outlawed long ago, and for good reason.”

Love spell… _love spell…_ the idea of it made her dizzy. She glanced over at Catra who was gazing back at her dreamily. Adora imagined little pink hearts orbiting around her head.

“That must be why she passed out after the attack,” Bow said.

“So, what–” Adora cleared her throat, aware of everyone’s attention on her. “What’s it doing to her, exactly?”

“It’s difficult to say… some spells cause the victim to fall in love with the first person they see, some amplify existing emotions… Whatever the case, it seems to be having quite a strong effect on her,” Angella mused.

Adora didn’t want to think about the implications of that assessment.

“And how long will it last?”

“The effects will likely fade in a few days. Why don’t we give her some privacy, and in the meantime I’ll set our alchemists to work on an antidote.”

Adora sighed in relief. She turned around to see Frosta waving a hand in front of Catra’s face and poking at her like she was a new alien species. Catra didn’t even seem to notice her. She shot a wink at Adora, who spun back around, taking deliberate breaths through gritted teeth.

“Okay, then!” Glimmer said. “The prisoner will be off limits to everyone until we know she’s not a threat. …That includes _you,_ Adora.”

“Psh, ha, what?!” Adora scoffed. “Trust me, I’m the last person you’d catch in here tonight.”

* * * 

Later that night, Adora snuck her way over to the prison room. 

She wasn’t sure why. Curiosity, maybe. Or she just wanted someone to be angry at.

“Hey, Adora. I knew you couldn’t stay away from me,” Catra grinned as she closed the door behind her.

Adora crossed her arms, standing a safe distance away from Catra’s cell. She seemed a little more sober than the last time they spoke, so that was something.

“Catra, who did this to you? Are you in some kind of trouble?”

“’Trouble?’ I’d call it Stockholm Syndrome.”

Adora sighed sharply. “Can you be serious for a second? I’m trying to help you!”

“You’re beautiful when you’re angry,” Catra swooned. “Have you been training? Or are the muscles just a She-Ra thing?”

“I–No– _What?”_

“Am I making you nervous?” she smirked.

Adora pinched the bridge of her nose, trying to regain control of the situation. She could feel herself blushing. 

“I just want to help fix you,” she enunciated carefully. “So that you can give us the intel we need, and get out of this prison cell, and go home to the Fright Zone. Okay? But we can’t do that if–”

“You know, locking me up’s not necessary, princess,” Catra interrupted with a seductive glint in her eyes. “Why would I run back to the Fright Zone when everything I want is right here?”

The comment hit Adora like a ton of bricks.

She stared at Catra, devastated.

“Don’t… Don’t say that.”

“Why not?”

Tears filled Adora’s eyes.

“Because I _miss_ you.”

Something flickered across Catra’s face, then. Something real. For a split second, but Adora saw it. It disappeared just as fast. 

“Wow… You’re even prettier when you cry,” Catra sighed.

Adora wanted to scream, or sob, or punch something, or all three really. Instead she quickly wiped at her eyes and turned to leave.

“I shouldn’t have come here.”

“Wait, Adora, don't–”

Adora slammed the door shut.

* * *

“It’s not a love spell.”

“What do you mean it’s not a–”

“It’s not a spell at all. It’s a curse.”

Angella pointed to a passage in the textbook.

“Spiritus Interiorum. Traditionally used to aid in torture, it induces euphoria and causes the victim to express only their most securely guarded thoughts.”

“…Oh,” was all Adora could say. 

She read the words on the page over and over again. It still wasn’t clicking.

“This can’t–I mean–” she chuckled awkwardly. “Are you _absolutely sure–”_

“Are you doubting the expertise of my royal analysts?”

“Uh, no, Ma’am. Your Highness.”

Angella gave her a knowing smile, then she held out her hand.

“What’s this?” Adora asked.

“It’s the antidote. I’d like you to administer it to the prisoner and report back any changes.”

“Oh, but, I don’t think–”

“That’s an order,” Angella waved her off, already turning to leave. “Please have Commander Glimmer find me when you’re ready. I’ll be in my study.”

Adora stared dumbly at the blue vial in her hand.

_Securely guarded thoughts?_

Like a truth spell? That can’t be right. Because that would mean… 

Adora shook her head. Time to finish this.

* * *

Adora gave Catra the antidote and came back to the room a half hour later. Catra was sitting ramrod straight in her chair, face utterly devoid of any emotion. She didn’t speak, she didn’t even look at her. 

“Catra? Um. How are you feeling?”

“I’m going to kill Entrapta.”

Adora’s face scrunched up in surprise.

“Okay…”

“Then I’m going to come back and kill Sparkles for dragging me here.”

“Right…”

“Then I’m going to kill you.”

“Sure,” Adora nodded. “Why Entrapta, though?”

Catra finally met her eyes. They were bloodshot like she hadn’t slept in weeks.

“This was her experiment,” she growled.

A long silence stretched between them. 

“Oh, man… That… that explains so much.”

Catra squinted at nothing and Adora cleared her throat.

“So, what, uh–what exactly do you remember from yesterday?”

She mumbled something unintelligible.

“I didn’t–I can’t hear you–”

_“Everything.”_

“Oh. Cool. Yeah.”

Catra pointed an accusatory finger at Adora, fury darkening her face. It almost relieved Adora, like things were going back to normal. 

“This. Never. Happened. Understand?”

“...What never happened?”

She thought she almost saw a hint of relief on Catra’s face. 

“Just let me out of here before Scorpia burns your stupid palace down.”  
  


  


  
**Eight.  
  
Word Count: 1100  
Posted: After Season 4  
Prompt: "I almost lost you" kiss  
**

Catra wiped the sweat off her palm and rapped her fist against a massive, ornate door. Privacy was such an alien concept to her (like everything else in Bright Moon). Normally, she would’ve walked right in, but she welcomed anything that might delay this goodbye… if only for a few more seconds.

“Come in!”

She steeled herself and let the door swing open.

“Hey… Adora?”

The blonde was curled up in bed reading a book. When she saw Catra, her face lit up with a small smile, and the mercy of it nearly brought Catra to her knees.

At least she wasn’t covered in blood anymore. Glimmer had washed her, dressed her wounds, taken care of _everything,_ while the only thing Catra had been good for was pitying herself. It had taken all day to even gather the courage to visit her.

It wasn’t her fault–technically. She wasn’t the one who dealt the blows. But she may as well have been.

“Catra… you stayed,” Adora said in wonder.

Catra shrugged and glanced around the room, wondering how Adora had ever adjusted to this weird princess life. 

“I wanted to make sure you were okay.”

 _Okay_ was a stretch. There were bandages covering her torso and arms and her skin was painted with colorful bruises and for a second Catra felt like she was going to be sick… but she took a calming breath and forced herself not to look away.

 _Look at what you’ve done,_ the demons in her head sang.

“Does it hurt?” 

Adora laughed a little.

“Could be worse. I mean… I don’t know what would’ve happened if you hadn’t been there.”

The words broke through some defense in Catra’s mind that had been holding back an onslaught of horrifying memories.

* * *

_“You said we were going to take her back with us!”_

_Darkness swirled around them, closing the three of them off from the surrounding chaos of the battle. She-Ra lay broken and half-conscious on the ground, an alarming amount of blood seeping through her shirt, coloring the white cloth crimson._

_Above her, Shadow Weaver worked to conjure a deadly black flame in her hands._

_“Really, Catra… are you still so naive?”_

_“But she–!”_

_“Adora has proven herself recalcitrant,” she drawled, placing a placating hand on Catra’s cheek. “You’ll thank me for this one day. Without her, there’s no limit to what we can accomplish… my daughter.”_

_Catra stared back at her, devastated, the words she once dreamed of hearing now sending a pestilent chill through her body._

_Satisfied, Shadow Weaver turned back to Adora, the magic in her grasp flickering, wreathing, growing._

_“Pathetic… what a waste,” she mourned._

_But as she raised her hand to deliver the strike, a flash of light caught Catra’s attention, and the world around her slowed._

_It was the sword._

_She-Ra’s sword–Lying in the grass a few paces away, and glowing as if… calling out to her…_

_Her heart raced, blood pounded in her ears. She glanced from the sword, to Adora, to Shadow Weaver, and back to the sword, but the time for indecision was long over. She had a choice to make._

_With a cry, Catra leapt for the weapon, spun around, and drove the blade straight through Shadow Weaver’s back._

* * *

It was the scream she hated the most. The sound was forever burned into her mind.

“Catra!”

Catra suddenly returned to the present, to the safety of Adora’s room in Bright Moon. She realized tears were streaming down her face. 

“I’m so sorry, Adora,” she gasped as Adora ran to her, “For everything, I know it doesn’t matter but I’d do anything to take it all back–”

Adora pulled her into an tight embrace and Catra buried her face in her neck, clutching her like she was the last thing holding her together and breathing her in because she was alive, she was alive, she was alive, and Catra’s heart beat in time with the rising and falling of her chest and she wasn’t sure she wanted to exist anymore if it wasn’t here in Adora’s arms.

“I can’t take it back…”

“It’s okay now,” Adora murmured in her ear. “We’re okay.” 

Adora continued to soothe her with gentle words until, eventually, Catra’s tears stopped flowing. But once they did, reality crept back in, bringing with it all the immeasurable shame that Adora’s light had temporarily staved off. Catra jerked away from her touch, the illusion of redemption just another monster tormenting her. She had to get out of here.

“I know you hate me, I deserve it, I just–” she laughed bitterly, turning towards the door, “–I couldn’t leave without telling you…”

“Catra, stop!” Adora grabbed her wrist. “Please, just, stop saying you’re sorry. I _know.”_

Catra turned back to her in confusion and Adora’s hand slid down to grasp hold of hers, begging her to stay.

“I don’t hate you,” she laughed brokenly. “You _saved_ me.” 

“All I ever did was _hurt you–”_

“Listen, I’m not saying you didn’t… make mistakes. I did, too. We both forgot who the real enemy was--Shadow Weaver was selfish, and evil, and manipulative, but she doesn’t control us anymore. You beat her, Catra! You broke free of her and I’m only here now because of you. _You saved me.”_

Everything in Catra wanted to resist her words; everything in her wanted desperately to believe them. Adora didn’t give her the chance to think about it because she was pulling her close again and resting her forehead to Catra’s. Meeting her steady gaze was like falling through a clear blue sky. 

She lifted a shaky hand to Adora’s face, just to prove to herself that she wasn’t a dream. Her skin was soft and warm under her fingertips as she ran her thumb along a scar on her jaw… Adora had always been so invincible, but now she seemed to Catra the most fragile thing in all the world. 

“I almost lost you,” Catra breathed. 

So many times. In so many different ways. 

“I’m right here, Catra. I’ve _always_ been right here.” She brushed the tip of her nose to Catra’s, a hand tangling in her hair. “I’ve always been yours.”

Tears burned in her eyes again and Adora leaned in to finally close the space between their lips. It felt like she was drowning, or maybe being baptized, but it didn’t matter which–she thought she’d just as soon die for Adora’s love as live for it. In her chest she felt all of the shame and self-hatred receding in the face of Adora’s undeserved forgiveness. She had spent her whole life in fear of this, afraid that giving into love would make her _weak._ That it would be the end of her.

She never imagined it could be the beginning.  
  


  
**Nine.  
  
Word Count: 1000  
Posted: After Season 4  
Prompt: Things you said as we danced in our socks  
**

Sometimes Catra would look at her and it felt like a thousand flowers were blooming inside her chest. 

It was the little things, you know? The way her forehead creased in concentration, mouth slightly turned down, her pencil scribbling furiously across the page. The kitchen light highlighted a dusting of summer freckles across her collarbone and stray strands of hair fell from her ponytail, loosened by the breeze coming through the screen door. Sounds from the neighbor’s bonfire drifted in, too–people laughing, an oldies radio station playing Van Morrison, and sometimes she’d sing along under her breath while Catra tried to memorize the pink shade of her lips.

“I still can’t believe we’re missing _senior prom_ because you punched Carter Evans in the face.”

Catra glanced down at her notebook so she wouldn’t get caught staring. She’d only written two sentences. 

“I was defending your honor!” she protested.

“You gave him a black eye!”

“I’d say it’s an improvement,” Catra said smugly, crossing her arms. “Besides, if he talks to you like that, what’s stopping him from doing it to other girls?”

Adora let her head fall to the table with a groan. 

“Okay, you’re right… but it wasn’t worth missing our _last_ big high school experience.”

Catra slumped in her chair. So maybe Adora’s reaction to her knight-in-shining-armor moment had been a little disappointing. But what she really didn’t understand was why would she would want to be stuck with pretentious assholes in a sweaty gym all night when they could just hang out here together.

“Maybe that was my plan all along! I just didn’t wanna be embarrassed by your awkward dancing.”

“Ooh, I’m Catra,” Adora mocked. “I’m too cool to dance so I just sway in one place like a dumb… cool person.”

“Whatever,” Catra grumbled, face warm. “I could dance if I wanted to.”

“Prove it,” she laughed, and the sound of it was like an early morning rain shower, and there were those damned flowers again. 

Before she could think about it Catra caught Adora’s hand and pulled her to her feet. They stumbled laughing over to the linoleum kitchen floor and Catra had to stop Adora from slipping in her socks while The Kinks’ You Really Got Me came on the radio outside. She launched into a dramatic air guitar solo, banging her head and yelling the lyrics out at the top of her lungs. Adora joined in with a wooden spoon for a microphone, trying her best not to crack up.

“My neighbors can hear you, idiot!”

“Yeeeah, you really got me now! You got me so I can’t sleep at niiight!” 

The second chorus came around and all the singing left Catra out of breath, but Adora kept dancing, lost in the music. Time seemed to slow somehow and Catra couldn’t take her eyes off of her. The way she moved, the freedom and the fire and the hunger wrapped up in her, rays of light bursting through carefully-stitched seams. That Adora allowed her to see it made Catra feel like the luckiest person alive.

The song came to an end and they couldn’t stop laughing as Adora pulled her close, and Catra felt high off of something she couldn’t name–it made her hands shake and the air sparkle and Adora’s smile was the gravity that kept all her broken pieces from flying apart (but that was nothing new). 

“Not half-bad, Weaver,” Adora grinned, breathless. “You should’ve challenged Carter to a dance-off.”

“Jesus, I didn’t wanna demolish the guy.” Catra laced their fingers together and the way Adora’s fire so easily melted into affection made her stomach flip. “Just, you know, get him to back off you.”

_Hey everybody, you’re listening to KX 103.7. This one’s for all the hopeless romantics out there… Roberta Flack’s Grammy winning recording of ‘The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face.’ Enjoy._

“Oh, wow…” Adora’s eyes went wide. “I haven’t heard this in forever.”

Catra hummed. She didn’t recognize it off hand, but the guitar was languid and romantic and it stirred something familiar in her, too. 

“Dance with me?”

Smiling, Adora took her left hand back and hung it over Catra’s shoulder, and the two of them swayed quietly for a while.

_The first time… ever I saw your face…_

_I thought the sun rose in your eyes…_

Adora met her gaze as she tenderly brushed Catra’s hair back from her forehead. Her fingertips lingered by a scar Catra got when she was thirteen, and her mother had shoved her into the china cabinet. 

Was it her imagination, or was there a pink tint to Adora’s cheeks? 

“Usually I'm the one taking care of you,” she murmured.

It should have stung Catra with resentment, but she’d said it so gently that it washed over her like a consecration.

“Figured we could mix things up,” Catra tried to joke. “Sorry you’re missing prom, though.”

“Well, I wasn’t gonna go without you.”

_And the first time… ever I kissed your mouth…_

“I just feel like I’m holding you back, sometimes.”

_I felt the Earth move in my hands…_

“I’m exactly where I want to be.”

Adora leaned into her, sliding her arms up around her shoulders and hiding her face in the crook of Catra’s neck. She was afraid Adora might notice her heart pounding; still, she slipped her arms around her waist and felt Adora sigh, warm breath tickling her neck. The song was so slow that they were hardly even swaying now.

_Like the trembling heart of a captive bird…_

Adora thread a hand into Catra’s hair and she could’ve sworn she felt her lips brush her skin.

“Your heart’s beating so fast,” she said.

Catra’s mouth went dry.

“Is it?”

This time she definitely felt Adora’s lips on her neck. She moved to touch her forehead to Catra’s and hesitated there, their breath mingling, Adora’s hands trailing from her neck to her face, and Catra was completely helpless.

“Adora,” she whispered. She’d forgotten all other words.

“...Are you gonna kiss me or wh–”


End file.
